When the idea first came into my head to get DirecTV I really wanted to give DirecTV a shot, as I knew this was not just a system test, but a two year commitment.
As you might have seen over the past few years DirecTV has been making some bold claims about their future and I wanted to be there for all of the great stuff that DirecTV is advertising coming down the line.
For my trek into DirecTV I opted to do it myself, I installed the new Slimline Dish and three of DirecTV's current most poular receivers. The receivers I selected and installed were the R15 SD DVR, The D20 MPEG4 Receiver and the top of the line HR20 MPEG4 HD DVR.
Out of the box I was impressed with the quality of the packout of the Slimline Dish and the D20 and HR20. When you opened the boxes you felt like you were opening quality, this was compaired with the many Dish Network dishes and receivers I have opened which were packed like they were shipped in bulk, with everything just thrown in the boxes so it would get there.(Although the R15 looked like a Dish packout with the receiver with two stirophone holders on the end thrown in a box with the manuals and wires thrown on top)
As you have read in my diary, my install went well. I was VERY impressed with the Slimline Dish, it was very well thought out and not difficult to install, this dish was a big upgrade compaired to the AT9 which was a lot harder to install.
While my install went well I had a few annoying issues that were all on DirecTV's side and it took a few calls (from myself and also Brewer4) to get fixed. It seems to me that something screwed up on DIrecTV's side and while I have the DIrecTV Plus HD DVR package plus 3 months free of HBO, Showtime and Cinemax. my Local HD channels and HBO and Showtime HD were not turned on like they were supposed to. I am told this is due to a bug in the system for this package. This is a bug that needs to be fixed for all future customers.
So now I have had DirecTV for a week and here are my honest opinions on DirecTV and their offerings. Do not consider my opinions as scientific fact as I did not use any measurements to come to my opinons, I just used my two eyes.
My review will use the 10 point system, where a 10 is best and a 1 is the worst.
So lets get into it.
CHANNEL LINEUP
Being a long time Dish Network customer I still am not use to DirecTV's lineup, what makes it more confusing is that if you dont setup a favorites list you see every channel DirecTV offers, so you see lots of channels you cant get (even if you wanted to subscribe to them such as XM for Business, the Business Channels, Retailer Channels etc)
IN addition for being America's Sports Leader, the sports channels are hard to find, hidden way up in the 600 channel range.
In addition some channels that I am use to having on Dish are not available to me such as the Outdoor Channel.
The lineup will take awhile to get use to, I had AT&T Uverse and their lineup was laid out better then DIrecTV's.
I give the DirecTV Channel Lineup a 5 out of 10. I am sure this will improve when I use it more.
I do like channel 101, although the programming seems out of date, I watched an episode of CD USA and on it they had something on and said if you want to get more information go to their website, yet the website does not exist anymore.
I do also like the News Mix Channel, I have kept this up while I am at work. However I cant figure out why I can't tune to the Mix Information Channel on Channel 105, when I tune to it, I am told "Channel Not Purchased (721)"
I big waste of time and resources is DirecTV's Game Lounge, it is SO SLOW that you get annoyed trying to play any games at all. Just loading the Game Lounge main screen takes 20 - 30 seconds. Loading a game such as UNO takes about 45 seconds. In playing Uno it takes around 3 seconds for each card to move across the screen, plus there is no sound on the games. I will admit the graphics are much better then Dish Networks Interactive Games, however the game play (because of the speed) and some of the actual games themself are just BAD. I give DirecTV's Interactive games a 3 out of 10.
THE EQUIPMENT
Since I have been mainly been using the HR 20 I will focus on it. The HR20 is a nice looking receiver, I found it neat that the heat vents on the top of the recever are laid out in the DirecTV logo.
In the center of the front panel is this LED circle, which is way too bright out of the box, however you can turn the circle down or off if you wish. (I like the LED's on the R15 better though, it looks much cooler)
Hookup was a snap, and it came with everything you need to hook it up including a HDMI cable (hey Dish hear that? They including the HDMI Cable!)
Thoughts on the HR 20 system.
THe HR-20 was almost 2 years later coming to the market over the Dish 622 and yet still the HR20 still feels unfinished, it is slow and clunky. I feel that the interface on the R15 is slightly better and faster then the HR20. Compaired to the Dish 622, the HR20 seems like a receiver that is a few generations behind. While I was testing a Cutting Edge (CE) software version was released and I updated my box to the CE Release, and I must say that it was a nice improvement, yet still the box feels slow and unfinished. When the Dish 622 came out it worked out of the box, with the HR20 it came unfinished, yet improvements have been made over time to enable new features. The HR 20 is not yet all it can be, and I feel it will be awhile before we see all that this box can do.
In addition the HR20 is buggy, once while using it a few of my channels stopped coming in, to get them back I needed to go online and do a refresh, then later my DVR lost its abaility to be a DVR, again this was fixed by going to DirecTV.COM and doing a refresh. At one time DirecTV receivers were really reliable and they did not require much help (they were set it and forget it) however with this new generation the rock solid equipment and software is a thing of the past.
Before the CE update I would have given the HR20 a 5 out of 10. But with the CE it is now a 6 out of 10. I have seen some upcoming stuff coming for the HR20 such as their VOD service I expect this rating to improve and in time this box could be better then the Dish 622.
PICTURE QUALITY
Over the past few days I have tried being very objective on PQ. What I watched on DirecTV I recorded on Dish, and at times I did a flip between the 622 and HR20 using a manual component switch.
The PQ on the DirecTV channels I watched we much move heavily compressed then they were on Dish Network. You could see pixels and big blocks appear on the screen, especially when there was any kind of motion. As you may remember I had AT&T Uverse last month.
If I had to rank the PQ of Dish Network, AT&T Uverse and DirecTV here is how I would rank them...
AT&T Uverse 9 out of 10
Dish Network 7 out of 10
DirecTV 5 out of 10
I was really not impressed with the SD Picture quality on DirecTV, and at points last night parts of WWE were almost unwatchable.
HD Quality
Ok here is the big one, the one most are waiting for... how is the picture quality of DirecTV?
When I got my service turned on I turned on HD Net and I turned it on both my 622 and HR20, the was a major difference in the pictue quality and the DirecTV HD quality did not look good at all. I was very disapointed with the HD quality.
And then...
I checked out my locals which are available on DirecTV in MPEG4 and from what I saw floored me, yet gave me great hope about DirecTV. The picture quality on the DirecTV MPEG4 was just as good as receiving these channels via my off air antenna! I also checked out YES Network and SNY HD which are also in MPEG4 and was VERY impressed with the PQ!
So here is how they rank.
MPEG2 HD
Dish Network 8 out of 10
DirecTV 6 out of 10
AT&T UVERSE (All HD channels are MPEG4)
MPEG4 Quality
(Now because Dish does not have any MPEG4 channels which I get off of DirecTV this ranking comes from overall MPEG4 perfomance. I do understand that the PQ varies by area as other areas may be using older MPEG4 encoders, I am basing my findings on what I am seeing in Hartford, CT)
DirecTV 9.5 out of 10
Dish Network 8 out of 10
AT&T UVERSE 4.5 out of 10
While the MPEG4 PQ on Dish was very good, the DirecTV MPEG4 seemed to be more colorfull, lifelike and more detailed. I was truely blown away by the PQ of DirecTV's MPEG4 channels, and if all of the new channels look like this DirecTV could indeed be the true HD leader.
My review wont end here, as I said before I am locked in here for 2 years, but in saying that I feel I will be able to watch DirecTV and their HD equipment bloom into something which could be great. DirecTV has a lot of work to do though, the SD PQ needs a lot of work and they also need to put all the of MPEG2 HD channels up in MPEG4 and give its customers the best HD quality ASAP.
Thanks for reading and commenting on my journey to DirecTV over the past week. It has been very interesting and a true learning experiance for me. I look forward to continuing reporting on all of the exciting changes coming from BOTH COMPANIES as they happen.
Thanks for being SatelliteGuys members, I hope you enjoyed my review.
As you might have seen over the past few years DirecTV has been making some bold claims about their future and I wanted to be there for all of the great stuff that DirecTV is advertising coming down the line.
For my trek into DirecTV I opted to do it myself, I installed the new Slimline Dish and three of DirecTV's current most poular receivers. The receivers I selected and installed were the R15 SD DVR, The D20 MPEG4 Receiver and the top of the line HR20 MPEG4 HD DVR.
Out of the box I was impressed with the quality of the packout of the Slimline Dish and the D20 and HR20. When you opened the boxes you felt like you were opening quality, this was compaired with the many Dish Network dishes and receivers I have opened which were packed like they were shipped in bulk, with everything just thrown in the boxes so it would get there.(Although the R15 looked like a Dish packout with the receiver with two stirophone holders on the end thrown in a box with the manuals and wires thrown on top)
As you have read in my diary, my install went well. I was VERY impressed with the Slimline Dish, it was very well thought out and not difficult to install, this dish was a big upgrade compaired to the AT9 which was a lot harder to install.
While my install went well I had a few annoying issues that were all on DirecTV's side and it took a few calls (from myself and also Brewer4) to get fixed. It seems to me that something screwed up on DIrecTV's side and while I have the DIrecTV Plus HD DVR package plus 3 months free of HBO, Showtime and Cinemax. my Local HD channels and HBO and Showtime HD were not turned on like they were supposed to. I am told this is due to a bug in the system for this package. This is a bug that needs to be fixed for all future customers.
So now I have had DirecTV for a week and here are my honest opinions on DirecTV and their offerings. Do not consider my opinions as scientific fact as I did not use any measurements to come to my opinons, I just used my two eyes.
My review will use the 10 point system, where a 10 is best and a 1 is the worst.
So lets get into it.
CHANNEL LINEUP
Being a long time Dish Network customer I still am not use to DirecTV's lineup, what makes it more confusing is that if you dont setup a favorites list you see every channel DirecTV offers, so you see lots of channels you cant get (even if you wanted to subscribe to them such as XM for Business, the Business Channels, Retailer Channels etc)
IN addition for being America's Sports Leader, the sports channels are hard to find, hidden way up in the 600 channel range.
In addition some channels that I am use to having on Dish are not available to me such as the Outdoor Channel.
The lineup will take awhile to get use to, I had AT&T Uverse and their lineup was laid out better then DIrecTV's.
I give the DirecTV Channel Lineup a 5 out of 10. I am sure this will improve when I use it more.
I do like channel 101, although the programming seems out of date, I watched an episode of CD USA and on it they had something on and said if you want to get more information go to their website, yet the website does not exist anymore.
I do also like the News Mix Channel, I have kept this up while I am at work. However I cant figure out why I can't tune to the Mix Information Channel on Channel 105, when I tune to it, I am told "Channel Not Purchased (721)"
I big waste of time and resources is DirecTV's Game Lounge, it is SO SLOW that you get annoyed trying to play any games at all. Just loading the Game Lounge main screen takes 20 - 30 seconds. Loading a game such as UNO takes about 45 seconds. In playing Uno it takes around 3 seconds for each card to move across the screen, plus there is no sound on the games. I will admit the graphics are much better then Dish Networks Interactive Games, however the game play (because of the speed) and some of the actual games themself are just BAD. I give DirecTV's Interactive games a 3 out of 10.
THE EQUIPMENT
Since I have been mainly been using the HR 20 I will focus on it. The HR20 is a nice looking receiver, I found it neat that the heat vents on the top of the recever are laid out in the DirecTV logo.
In the center of the front panel is this LED circle, which is way too bright out of the box, however you can turn the circle down or off if you wish. (I like the LED's on the R15 better though, it looks much cooler)
Hookup was a snap, and it came with everything you need to hook it up including a HDMI cable (hey Dish hear that? They including the HDMI Cable!)
Thoughts on the HR 20 system.
THe HR-20 was almost 2 years later coming to the market over the Dish 622 and yet still the HR20 still feels unfinished, it is slow and clunky. I feel that the interface on the R15 is slightly better and faster then the HR20. Compaired to the Dish 622, the HR20 seems like a receiver that is a few generations behind. While I was testing a Cutting Edge (CE) software version was released and I updated my box to the CE Release, and I must say that it was a nice improvement, yet still the box feels slow and unfinished. When the Dish 622 came out it worked out of the box, with the HR20 it came unfinished, yet improvements have been made over time to enable new features. The HR 20 is not yet all it can be, and I feel it will be awhile before we see all that this box can do.
In addition the HR20 is buggy, once while using it a few of my channels stopped coming in, to get them back I needed to go online and do a refresh, then later my DVR lost its abaility to be a DVR, again this was fixed by going to DirecTV.COM and doing a refresh. At one time DirecTV receivers were really reliable and they did not require much help (they were set it and forget it) however with this new generation the rock solid equipment and software is a thing of the past.
Before the CE update I would have given the HR20 a 5 out of 10. But with the CE it is now a 6 out of 10. I have seen some upcoming stuff coming for the HR20 such as their VOD service I expect this rating to improve and in time this box could be better then the Dish 622.
PICTURE QUALITY
Over the past few days I have tried being very objective on PQ. What I watched on DirecTV I recorded on Dish, and at times I did a flip between the 622 and HR20 using a manual component switch.
The PQ on the DirecTV channels I watched we much move heavily compressed then they were on Dish Network. You could see pixels and big blocks appear on the screen, especially when there was any kind of motion. As you may remember I had AT&T Uverse last month.
If I had to rank the PQ of Dish Network, AT&T Uverse and DirecTV here is how I would rank them...
AT&T Uverse 9 out of 10
Dish Network 7 out of 10
DirecTV 5 out of 10
I was really not impressed with the SD Picture quality on DirecTV, and at points last night parts of WWE were almost unwatchable.
HD Quality
Ok here is the big one, the one most are waiting for... how is the picture quality of DirecTV?
When I got my service turned on I turned on HD Net and I turned it on both my 622 and HR20, the was a major difference in the pictue quality and the DirecTV HD quality did not look good at all. I was very disapointed with the HD quality.
And then...
I checked out my locals which are available on DirecTV in MPEG4 and from what I saw floored me, yet gave me great hope about DirecTV. The picture quality on the DirecTV MPEG4 was just as good as receiving these channels via my off air antenna! I also checked out YES Network and SNY HD which are also in MPEG4 and was VERY impressed with the PQ!
So here is how they rank.
MPEG2 HD
Dish Network 8 out of 10
DirecTV 6 out of 10
AT&T UVERSE (All HD channels are MPEG4)
MPEG4 Quality
(Now because Dish does not have any MPEG4 channels which I get off of DirecTV this ranking comes from overall MPEG4 perfomance. I do understand that the PQ varies by area as other areas may be using older MPEG4 encoders, I am basing my findings on what I am seeing in Hartford, CT)
DirecTV 9.5 out of 10
Dish Network 8 out of 10
AT&T UVERSE 4.5 out of 10
While the MPEG4 PQ on Dish was very good, the DirecTV MPEG4 seemed to be more colorfull, lifelike and more detailed. I was truely blown away by the PQ of DirecTV's MPEG4 channels, and if all of the new channels look like this DirecTV could indeed be the true HD leader.
My review wont end here, as I said before I am locked in here for 2 years, but in saying that I feel I will be able to watch DirecTV and their HD equipment bloom into something which could be great. DirecTV has a lot of work to do though, the SD PQ needs a lot of work and they also need to put all the of MPEG2 HD channels up in MPEG4 and give its customers the best HD quality ASAP.
Thanks for reading and commenting on my journey to DirecTV over the past week. It has been very interesting and a true learning experiance for me. I look forward to continuing reporting on all of the exciting changes coming from BOTH COMPANIES as they happen.
Thanks for being SatelliteGuys members, I hope you enjoyed my review.
